With just a few days until COP26 is held in Glasgow, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been making some rather worrying comments to the media – about how successful the event will be and how recycling plastic ‘isn’t the answer.’
Earlier this month, much of the UK optical industry sat down for ABDO’s See Summit, where Nick Bridge, the foreign secretary’s special representative for climate change, gave an overview of the perilous position the world currently finds itself in and just how important COP26 is in order to broker climate change agreements between countries.
I feel sorry for Nick Bridge, not least because he had the double whammy of working for the geographically challenged Dominic Raab and now cheese import expert, Liz Truss, but because he now has Boris Johnson talking down the chances of agreements being reached at COP26. And if Mr Moonshot is talking something down, you know it won’t end well.
Beating climate change needs leadership from the highest level, so Boris Johnson’s apparent gloom is worrying, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from rallying against climate change – especially the global optical industry.
Last week I referred to the notion of independents being in control of their own destiny and the battle to beat climate change is one area where the independent sector can truly excel. Being in complete control of the suppliers you work with, the products you choose and the measures you put in place means that your own bespoke sustainability charter can be presented to patients. And that’s important, because the public’s attitude to sustainability is changing every single day.
The eyewear, contact lens and ophthalmic lens industries are all facing massive challenges, and many companies in those sectors are meeting those challenges, but plenty are not. Those that don’t step up to the plate now will face their own extinction events.